Chinese Given Names

What are Chinese given names?

The Chinese given name (first name) composed of one or two words in most cases is located behind the surname. The given name in China is usually with some meanings to express good wishes. It’s mostly given by the parents or seniors of a family. Some of the given name may show the person’s birth location, time or weather condition, such as 晨(with the meaning of Morning ) and 雪 (means Snow). Some was named with the hope to be blessed with some kind of virtue, such as 忠 (loyal), 信 (trustworthy), 礼 (polite) etc. Also, some may with the hope of health (健), longevity (寿) or happiness (福).

For male and female, the given name has different characters. For male, the words like ‘力’, ‘伟’, ‘勇’, ‘猛’ are usually used to show force, greatness, intrepidity and valor in given name. In opposite, words with the meaning of beauty, elegant, aroma, flower, jade etc. are mostly selected for female.

One Word or Two-Word Given Names?

According to statistics, before the 2000s, the given name for the Chinese people is mostly composed of one word. However, after that period, more people use two words for their given names. The change is mainly caused by the large population of China and too many duplicated names. One word given name is easy to call but also easy to be duplicate with others. Two-word one is mostly used now in China and also is a must in some places for new-born babies. Following are the percentage of given names with one word for female and male in different periods of China. From the statistic, you could clearly see the change:

Year

Male

Female

1960s

55%

35%

1970s

46%

43%

1980s

46%

42%

1990s

52%

44%

2000s

19%

17%

2011

17%

13%

2012

13%

10%

2013

10%

8%

Top 20 Mostly Used Given Names in China

Following are top 20 given names with the most numbers now in China. You can also get their meanings and numbers from the table below.

Top 20 Mostly Used Given Names in China

Rank

Word

Meaning

Number

Rank

Word

Meaning

Numbers

1

英

Brave

41000153

11

红

Red

21763316

2

华

Gorgeous

35266889

12

丽

Beautiful

21685739

3

玉

Jade

34243152

13

小

Small

21221614

4

秀

Elegant

32120854

14

梅

Plum

20540086

5

文

Literate

29623154

15

云

Cloud

19931270

6

明

Bright

28531253

16

芳

Aromatous

19813046

7

兰

Orchid

25703851

17

平

Peaceful

19778348

8

金

Gold

22224840

18

海

Sea

19563097

9

国

Country

22112399

19

珍

Precious

19420570

10

春

Spring

22103501

20

荣

prosperous

19352187

List of Most Common Given Names for Male and Female (Boy and Girl)

Chinese given names in different periods show different traits. Some of them have characteristics of the times. For example, during the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese people adored devotion too much. Therefore, most of the people have the names like建国 (Building the State), 建军 (building army) etc. During the 1980s to 1990s, personal striving was paid great attention during the Chinese people’s life. So, the given names for people born during this period are mostly direct, plain and easy to be duplicated. After the 2000s, the given names are more liberal and diversified.